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christloves

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Mar 13, 2006
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Davie, Fl.
Purchased and installed a new 90 cm (36"0) fortec dish with a saab hh90 and a invacom qph31 lnb. Set asimuth to 186, dish elevationto 40.1, motor elevation to 26.1. Can get no signal. Tried 2 Lnbs with signal meter and with a fortec classic reciever. Adjusted on the fly . Most I get on any signal fluctuate between 6 and 26%. Help
 
POSTING GUIDELINES...Must read!!!

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With a lot of newbies getting systems and needing help setting up, please help us out when creating posts (this goes for the veterans too)

If you are having trouble with your setup,
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE list your setup (what receiver, LNB, dish size and motor if applicable you are using).

If you are asking “my numbers are 36 elevation, 177 azimuth and -20 skew…is this right?” Please post location (city & state or zip code)

Many posts the first response is “what are you using for equipment” or some posts don’t get answered because it’s too vague. The more info you give, the better we can help out….
We can’t read minds

Thanks for your understanding….

-Berg
 
christloves said:
Purchased and installed a new 90 cm (36"0) fortec dish with a saab hh90 and a invacom qph31 lnb. Set asimuth to 186, dish elevationto 40.1, motor elevation to 26.1. Can get no signal. Tried 2 Lnbs with signal meter and with a fortec classic reciever. Adjusted on the fly . Most I get on any signal fluctuate between 6 and 26%. Help

1. Remove the motor. - First find a quality signal. It's best to have a small TV and the receiver out by the dish. Remember, you need to see "Quality" Signal - not Signal Strength.

As you search for a quality signal, keep an eye on the signal strength meter. Often the meter will read 70% and as you move the dish, the meter may jump to 72% or 73% and then go back down to 70%. When you see the signal jump, stop moving the dish and start adjusting the elevation (very slight movements). It's been my experience that the small jump in signal strength indicates you are near a satellite. Also, use www.lyngsat.com to find a live signal or tell us what your true south satellite is and we can give you a frequency to scan.

2. Locate your True South satellite (do a search in this forum for "true south." You should find plenty of posts on this topic.) I'm in Maryland, and I do not have a True South Satellite. SBS6 is the nearest bird to my true south. Once you locate a signal on your true south satellite, mark the location and put your H toH motor back on.

3. The difficult part is installing a motor if your true south satellite does not have any live signals. You need the motor positioned on your true south coordinates (even if there is no "true south" satellite located at those coordinates) in order for the dish to follow the arc of satellites. If you are off by a few degrees, you may not get all of the satellites that are viewable from your location. In my case, my motor is located abot a degree to the west of SBS6. If I position the motor to point right at SBS 6, I can't see Galaxy 10 when the dish moves. If I position the motor a degree to the west of SBS6, I can see beyond Galaxy 10. It's trial and error with getting the motor to follow the arc - so start without the motor.

Good luck and welcome!
 
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christloves said:
Purchased and installed a new 90 cm (36"0) fortec dish with a saab hh90 and a invacom qph31 lnb. Set asimuth to 186, dish elevationto 40.1, motor elevation to 26.1. Can get no signal. Tried 2 Lnbs with signal meter and with a fortec classic reciever. Adjusted on the fly . Most I get on any signal fluctuate between 6 and 26%. Help


Set your motor - mounting bracket to your lattatude .

Wyr
 
If you don't have an exactly "true south" satellite, or your true south satellite is blocked, you can always use USALS to move your motor to where an adjacent satellite should be and fine tune your motor azimuth and DISH elevation from there.
 
Equiptment: Fortec Classic reciever. Lnb, Invacom QPH-31, dish Fortec Star 36" pole mount. Mounted on a pole above rooftop. signal meter. Motor SAAB hh 90

Lat. 26.1. long. 80.3. Zipcode 33325, in Davie close to Ft. Lauderdale.

I steup my dish elevation to 41, motor elev to 26.1, True Asimuth to 185.
Pointed to AMC5. No signal.

Spun my pole gently east ot west. No signal

Reset it. Reaimed to Amc5.
Raised and dropped my dish elevation, got a signal. Adjusted the pole left to right. Signal peaked at 25%. with a dish elevation of 31, not 40. Did this also with IE5..... same situation. could be noise.

got another new LNB.... Same thing.

Help
 
The LNBF is AWAYS the first thing to get blamed and in 99.9% of cases its NOTHING to do with it!

I would advise removing the motor for now, find and store a few satellites (Mainly true south) only then put your motor back on. Here are all the angles to the satellites from your area. The elevation are for fixed dishes only.

Code:
                       Davie, FL 33325
          Latitude 26° 6.516'N Longitude 80° 19.320'W

                       Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m)   El  Skew
--------------------------------------------------------------
           Thor 2/3 Intelsat 10    1.0W  94.7 100.6  0.9 -63.5
                               
                       Amos 1/2    4.0W  96.1 102.0  3.6 -63.2
                               
                Atlantic Bird 3    5.0W  96.6 102.4  4.5 -63.1
                               
                Nilesat 101/102    7.0W  97.5 103.4  6.3 -62.9
                               
     Telecom 2D/Atlantic Bird 2    8.0W  98.0 103.8  7.2 -62.8
                               
                     Express A3   11.0W  99.4 105.3  9.9 -62.4
                               
                     Telstar 12   15.0W 101.4 107.3 13.6 -61.7
                               
                   Intelsat 901   18.0W 103.0 108.9 16.3 -61.0
                               
                          NSS 7   22.0W 105.2 111.1 20.0 -60.1
                               
                   Intelsat 905   24.5W 106.6 112.5 22.2 -59.4
                               
                   Intelsat 907   27.5W 108.5 114.3 25.0 -58.4
                               
                  Hispasat 1C/D   30.0W 110.1 115.9 27.3 -57.5
                               
                   Intelsat 801   31.5W 111.1 116.9 28.6 -56.9
                               
                   Intelsat 903   34.5W 113.2 119.0 31.3 -55.7
                               
                    AMC 12/T 11   37.5W 115.4 121.3 34.0 -54.2
                               
                        NSS 806   40.5W 117.8 123.7 36.6 -52.6
                               
                      Pas 3R/6B   43.0W 120.0 125.9 38.8 -51.1
                               
                         Pas 1R   45.0W 121.8 127.7 40.5 -49.7
                               
                   Intelsat 705   50.0W 127.0 132.8 44.6 -45.9
                               
                   Intelsat 707   53.0W 130.4 136.3 47.0 -43.1
                               
                   Intelsat 805   55.5W 133.6 139.4 48.9 -40.6
                               
                          Pas 9   58.0W 137.0 142.8 50.7 -37.8
                               
                       Amazonas   61.0W 141.5 147.3 52.7 -34.0
                               
                     EchoStar 3   61.5W 142.2 148.1 53.0 -33.4
                               
                      Rainbow 1   61.5W 142.2 148.1 53.0 -33.4
                               
               Estrela do Sul 1   63.0W 144.7 150.5 53.9 -31.3
                               
                   Brasilsat B2   65.0W 148.1 154.0 55.0 -28.3
                               
                   Brasilsat B1   70.0W 157.5 163.4 57.4 -20.1
                               
                       Nahuel 1   71.8W 161.2 167.1 58.0 -16.8
                               
                      DirecTV 1   72.5W 162.7 168.5 58.3 -15.5
                               
                          AMC 6   72.0W 161.6 167.5 58.1 -16.5
                               
                          SBS 6   74.0W 165.9 171.7 58.7 -12.7
                               
                     Echostar 4   77.0W 172.5 178.3 59.3  -6.7
                               
                          AMC 5   79.0W 177.0 182.9 59.5  -2.7
                               
                        Nimiq 2   82.0W 183.8 189.7 59.4   3.4
                               
                          AMC-9   83.0W 186.1 191.9 59.3   5.4
                               
                   Brasilsat B3   84.0W 188.3 194.2 59.2   7.5
                               
                          AMC 2   85.0W 190.5 196.4 59.0   9.4
                               
                          AMC 3   87.0W 194.9 200.8 58.6  13.3
                               
                           IA-8   89.0W 199.1 205.0 58.0  17.1
                               
                      Galaxy 11   91.0W 203.2 209.1 57.2  20.7
                               
                      Nimiq 1/3   91.0W 203.2 209.1 57.2  20.7
                               
                   Brasilsat B4   92.0W 205.2 211.0 56.8  22.4
                               
                      Telstar 6   93.0W 207.1 212.9 56.4  24.1
                               
                      Galaxy 3C   95.0W 210.8 216.6 55.4  27.3
                               
                      Telstar 5   97.0W 214.2 220.1 54.3  30.4
                               
                      Galaxy 4R   99.0W 217.5 223.4 53.1  33.2
                               
                     Spaceway 2   99.2W 217.8 223.7 52.9  33.4
                               
                DirecTV 1R/4S/8  101.0W 220.6 226.5 51.8  35.8
                               
                          AMC 4  101.0W 220.6 226.5 51.8  35.8
                               
                     Spaceway 1  102.0W 222.1 228.0 51.1  37.0
                               
                          AMC 1  103.0W 223.5 229.4 50.4  38.2
                               
                         AMC 15  105.0W 226.2 232.1 49.0  40.4
                               
                      Anik F1/R  107.3W 229.2 235.0 47.3  42.8
                               
                      DirecTV 5  109.5W 231.8 237.6 45.5  44.9
                               
                     EchoStar 6  110.0W 232.3 238.2 45.2  45.3
                               
                     EchoStar 8  110.0W 232.3 238.2 45.2  45.3
                               
                        Anik F2  111.1W 233.5 239.4 44.3  46.2
                               
                  Solidaridad 2  113.0W 235.5 241.4 42.7  47.8
                               
                       SatMex 5  116.8W 239.2 245.1 39.5  50.5
                               
                     DirecTV 7s  119.0W 241.2 247.1 37.6  51.9
                               
                     EchoStar 7  119.0W 241.2 247.1 37.6  51.9
                               
          EchoStar 9/Telstar 13  121.0W 242.9 248.7 35.9  53.1
                               
                     Galaxy 10R  123.0W 244.5 250.3 34.1  54.1
                               
                      Galaxy 14  125.0W 246.0 251.9 32.3  55.1
                               
                  Galaxy 13/H 1  127.0W 247.5 253.3 30.5  56.0
                               
 Intelsat Americas 7/Echostar 5  129.0W 248.8 254.7 28.7  56.9
                               
                         AMC 11  131.0W 250.2 256.0 26.9  57.6
                               
                   Galaxy 1R/15  133.0W 251.5 257.3 25.1  58.4
                               
                         AMC 10  135.0W 252.7 258.5 23.3  59.0
                               
                          AMC 7  137.0W 253.9 259.7 21.5  59.6
                               
                          AMC 8  139.0W 255.0 260.9 19.6  60.2
                               
                     EchoStar 1  148.0W 259.8 265.6 11.4  62.1
                               
                     EchoStar 2  148.0W 259.8 265.6 11.4  62.1

       Satellite Finder is (c) Copyright 2004, P. Lutus
 
Also notice that there is a one degree difference between your longitude coordinate and AMC5. That means you really don't have a "true" true south satellite (but very close). Take the motor off complete. Re-check to make sure the pole or mast that your dish is attached to is level (plumb). Trust me. It takes a lot of patience. It's not as easy as installing a DishNetwork or Direct TV system. Once you figure it out, it becomes quite easy.

I can't stress the value of being able to have a TV and receiver right beside you. You can find a quality signal, move the dish less than a 1/2 inch, and lose the signal. Get a signal first, then lets work on the motor. Don't give up. It's definitely worth the effort. Good luck.
 
Absolutely true, installing a Dish or Direct dish is 100 times easier than a dish aimed at a FSS satellite. Add a motor and that becomes 1000 times. I can set up a Dish or Direct (DBS) dish without a compass by just eyeballing it, and 9 times out of 10 I'm dead on target. If you nudge a dish aimed at a FSS satellite just a little bit, it means the difference between best signal and no signal. It takes PLENTY of patience.
 
Well. I cannot get any near south satallites. I have been able to connect to the Echo 7 and Echo 9 satellite. Tried to get to the Galaxy 10rc at 123`, keep getting Echo 9. adjusted the elevations on the dish, It was indicated on the Sadouns web site calculator that my dish elevation is supposed to be approx 40`, had to drop it to approx 36` for a decent signal. I get a decent signal for what seems to be Echo 9, moved the dish and motor by 2` to rotate to Galaxy 10 r at 123`, pick up signals, but no fta. the signals at 11748 v at tp3, 11774v at tp5, 11800v, 11805v, all FTA per gyngsat, does not work. Moviing my dish east to west once the dish elevation is set to 36,motor to 26.1, azimuth to 175, I pick up some echo sats, with same dishnetworks. No decent FTa channels except for local cbs,nbc, abc nasa, channels. Even using the circular and liniar outputs on the LNB. am frustrated.
 
Sounds to me like you have your LO for the LNB set wrong. It appears like you might have it set on 11250 and you need to set it on 10750. Check this (the LO) out and change it if it's like this.

Al
 
Tron said:
Absolutely true, installing a Dish or Direct dish is 100 times easier than a dish aimed at a FSS satellite. Add a motor and that becomes 1000 times. I can set up a Dish or Direct (DBS) dish without a compass by just eyeballing it, and 9 times out of 10 I'm dead on target. If you nudge a dish aimed at a FSS satellite just a little bit, it means the difference between best signal and no signal. It takes PLENTY of patience.

Installing a dish/direct tv dish is ALOT easier!! Circular feeds are so much easier to pick up than linear.

let me toss a suggestion that may help: install a circular LNB first (if you got one). Set up your dish with the motor and have USALS move your dish to 91 (nimiq 1) Fine tune your dish there. Lock it down and put your linear LNB on and scan G11 (91). You should have a good signal on G11 that you can now fine tune now that you know you are locked at 91 location.

I would then use your motor to check both sides of the arc to make sure that you are set right. Check the other Linear sats left and right of the 91 and see where or if you drop off (to ensure you are set on the arch correctly)

(You could do that with your circular attacted and lock to 61.5w and 119w as a good test)

There is little to nothing on these DISH/BEV sats but they can be your friend when setting up your system (especially at high heights)
 
dish Elevation

good Morning. I tried the above , set my LO to 10750 instead of Uni, Remember I have the Invacom QPH 31 with both C and L outputs. Did not work.
Sadouns calc shows that my Fortec dish elevation should be set to 40.1 and my motor (Saab HH 90) should be set to my Lat (26.1).

With the motor post pointing down, per the pictures in the manual, I used the top bolt holes, and set it to 26.1.

I then set the dish elevation to 40.1 using the angle marks on the bolt on assembly in the back. I set my magnetic south to 185` approx using a string attached to my pole. I aim my dish using the fortec classic reciever to AMC 5.

I place a signal meter inline between the reciever and the motor.

NO signal just noise at max db. I lower the DB to no sound. Rotate the complete assembly slightly East to West. I pick up a slight signal. I lock the assembly to the pole which is level both ways.

With a angle level I check my dish elevation. I DO NOT GET ANYWare near to 59` elevation, actually, I get approx. 40` placing the angle level on the straight arm coming down of the back of the dish that bends up in front of the dish to hold the lnb.

I loosen of the bolts on the dish, moving it up and down. and get a stronger signal when lowered even more to a total of 33` on the straight arm, and 45` on the arm at the LNB.

This is the only signal I get at AMC 5 with my LO ste to UNI or 10750.

The satellite elevation shows to be 59` approx.

My elevations are wrong.

I would appreciate some Help on setting the correct elevation.

Thanks
 
I don't want to hijack your thread but I will be in the same boat as you next week when my NEW FTA system shows up :D .
I have been reading the install instruction on Sadoun website and it shows that I am to aim my dish to "TRUE SOUTH" but on here I keep hearing everyone talking about aiming it to the "TRUE SOUTH SAT.", which is correct???
I'm at zip 34668 and my True South Sat. looks like Nimiq 2 which doesn't look like it has a whole lot on it(some radio but all Canada Beam). Is that a good Sat to be initially aiming a Dish at??
 
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The Invacom QPH-031 IS a Standard LNBF on the linear side to the L.O. IS

10750

Code:
                     Port Richey, FL 34668
         Latitude 28° 18.066'N Longitude 82° 41.562'W

                       Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m)   El  Skew
--------------------------------------------------------------
           Thor 2/3 Intelsat 10    1.0W  94.0  98.7 -1.4 -61.4
                               
                       Amos 1/2    4.0W  95.4 100.1  1.2 -61.2
                               
                Atlantic Bird 3    5.0W  95.9 100.6  2.1 -61.1
                               
                Nilesat 101/102    7.0W  96.9 101.6  3.9 -60.9
                               
     Telecom 2D/Atlantic Bird 2    8.0W  97.4 102.1  4.8 -60.8
                               
                     Express A3   11.0W  98.9 103.6  7.4 -60.4
                               
                     Telstar 12   15.0W 101.0 105.7 11.0 -59.8
                               
                   Intelsat 901   18.0W 102.6 107.3 13.7 -59.2
                               
                          NSS 7   22.0W 104.9 109.6 17.2 -58.3
                               
                   Intelsat 905   24.5W 106.4 111.1 19.4 -57.6
                               
                   Intelsat 907   27.5W 108.2 113.0 22.1 -56.7
                               
                  Hispasat 1C/D   30.0W 109.9 114.6 24.3 -55.9
                               
                   Intelsat 801   31.5W 110.9 115.6 25.7 -55.4
                               
                   Intelsat 903   34.5W 113.0 117.7 28.3 -54.2
                               
                    AMC 12/T 11   37.5W 115.2 119.9 30.9 -52.8
                               
                        NSS 806   40.5W 117.6 122.3 33.5 -51.3
                               
                      Pas 3R/6B   43.0W 119.7 124.4 35.6 -49.9
                               
                         Pas 1R   45.0W 121.5 126.2 37.2 -48.6
                               
                   Intelsat 705   50.0W 126.5 131.2 41.3 -45.1
                               
                   Intelsat 707   53.0W 129.7 134.5 43.6 -42.6
                               
                   Intelsat 805   55.5W 132.7 137.4 45.5 -40.3
                               
                          Pas 9   58.0W 135.9 140.6 47.2 -37.8
                               
                       Amazonas   61.0W 140.0 144.7 49.2 -34.5
                               
                     EchoStar 3   61.5W 140.7 145.4 49.5 -33.9
                               
                      Rainbow 1   61.5W 140.7 145.4 49.5 -33.9
                               
               Estrela do Sul 1   63.0W 143.0 147.7 50.5 -32.0
                               
                   Brasilsat B2   65.0W 146.1 150.8 51.6 -29.4
                               
                   Brasilsat B1   70.0W 154.6 159.3 54.1 -22.2
                               
                       Nahuel 1   71.8W 157.9 162.6 54.8 -19.3
                               
                      DirecTV 1   72.5W 159.2 163.9 55.1 -18.2
                               
                          AMC 6   72.0W 158.3 163.0 54.9 -19.0
                               
                          SBS 6   74.0W 162.1 166.8 55.6 -15.7
                               
                     Echostar 4   77.0W 168.1 172.8 56.4 -10.4
                               
                          AMC 5   79.0W 172.2 177.0 56.7  -6.8
                               
                        Nimiq 2   82.0W 178.5 183.3 57.0  -1.3
                               
                          AMC-9   83.0W 180.6 185.4 57.0   0.6
                               
                   Brasilsat B3   84.0W 182.8 187.5 56.9   2.4
                               
                          AMC 2   85.0W 184.9 189.6 56.9   4.3
                               
                          AMC 3   87.0W 189.0 193.7 56.6   7.9
                               
                           IA-8   89.0W 193.1 197.8 56.2  11.5
                               
                      Galaxy 11   91.0W 197.1 201.8 55.7  15.0
                               
                      Nimiq 1/3   91.0W 197.1 201.8 55.7  15.0
                               
                   Brasilsat B4   92.0W 199.1 203.8 55.4  16.7
                               
                      Telstar 6   93.0W 201.0 205.7 55.1  18.4
                               
                      Galaxy 3C   95.0W 204.7 209.4 54.3  21.6
                               
                      Telstar 5   97.0W 208.3 213.0 53.4  24.7
                               
                      Galaxy 4R   99.0W 211.7 216.4 52.4  27.5
                               
                     Spaceway 2   99.2W 212.0 216.7 52.3  27.8
                               
                DirecTV 1R/4S/8  101.0W 214.9 219.6 51.3  30.3
                               
                          AMC 4  101.0W 214.9 219.6 51.3  30.3
                               
                     Spaceway 1  102.0W 216.5 221.2 50.7  31.6
                               
                          AMC 1  103.0W 218.0 222.7 50.1  32.8
                               
                         AMC 15  105.0W 220.9 225.6 48.8  35.2
                               
                      Anik F1/R  107.3W 224.0 228.7 47.3  37.7
                               
                      DirecTV 5  109.5W 226.8 231.5 45.7  39.9
                               
                     EchoStar 6  110.0W 227.4 232.2 45.4  40.4
                               
                     EchoStar 8  110.0W 227.4 232.2 45.4  40.4
                               
                        Anik F2  111.1W 228.8 233.5 44.6  41.5
                               
                  Solidaridad 2  113.0W 231.0 235.7 43.1  43.1
                               
                       SatMex 5  116.8W 235.0 239.7 40.2  46.2
                               
                     DirecTV 7s  119.0W 237.2 241.9 38.4  47.7
                               
                     EchoStar 7  119.0W 237.2 241.9 38.4  47.7
                               
          EchoStar 9/Telstar 13  121.0W 239.0 243.7 36.7  49.0
                               
                     Galaxy 10R  123.0W 240.8 245.5 35.1  50.2
                               
                      Galaxy 14  125.0W 242.5 247.2 33.4  51.3
                               
                  Galaxy 13/H 1  127.0W 244.1 248.8 31.7  52.4
                               
 Intelsat Americas 7/Echostar 5  129.0W 245.6 250.3 29.9  53.3
                               
                         AMC 11  131.0W 247.1 251.8 28.2  54.2
                               
                   Galaxy 1R/15  133.0W 248.5 253.2 26.4  55.0
                               
                         AMC 10  135.0W 249.9 254.6 24.7  55.8
                               
                          AMC 7  137.0W 251.2 255.9 22.9  56.5
                               
                          AMC 8  139.0W 252.5 257.2 21.1  57.1
                               
                     EchoStar 1  148.0W 257.7 262.4 13.1  59.3
                               
                     EchoStar 2  148.0W 257.7 262.4 13.1  59.3

       Satellite Finder is (c) Copyright 2004, P. Lutus


AMC-9 @ 83.0W is your TRUE south satellite, this is where you should be aiming your dish when setting up a motorized system.

Using USALS any satellite close by will also work, ask here for a LIVE TP./channel just before you start to point the dish/motor.

Good idea to find and store your true south satellite without the motor, it will make refinding it a LOT easier!

Your true south satellite is always EXACTLY the same position as your longitude! (True South!)
 
still Hoping for info on the proper way to set the dish elevation at initial setup and how to measure it , what is the true reference point for the dish elevation measurement and the satellite elevation
 
Your dish setting should be 40.6 and not 40.1, while the motor setting should be 26.1. This is based on your zip code 33325 and using Sadoun's motorized dish settings locator. Maybe this will help.

Al

Edit: I corrected a mistake, sorry!
 
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Setting the dish elevation to 40.6 can only realy be done after a signal of some kind is found, then the dish is pressured up or down to increase the signal... I tried that, no signal increase. Tried the same with the motor. No signal increase. Tried East to west, got a slight increase. Then tried the above again. No further increase. I am now at a standstill. been trying for 2 weeks. Am now going to take a nap after I change my diaper.
 
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